The regional SkillsBC competition was held at Selkirk College’s 10th Street Campus on February 21st, where students competed for medals in the categories of 2D animation, 3D animation and graphic design.

The full day competition required students to complete challenges from start to finish and then were judged by a panel of Selkirk College instructors and select industry representatives from the community. The 2D and 3D animation contest was sponsored by the Civic Theatre in Nelson where students were tasked with developing a short animation on Movie Theatre etiquette. The best animations will be played at the Civic theatre on a rotating basis before features are screened. For graphic design, students were tasked with creating a logo and media campaign for an established ‘fake business’ that promoted getting rid of paper cups. 6 medals were won for Mt. Sentinel, 2 for LVRogers.

“Our academy program at Mt. Sentinel has the flexibility in our course schedule to train and prepare our students for this type of competition. We ran mock competitions as well as involved the academy students in preparing real world applications such as documenting the SD8 Student Symposium.” commented Academy PM teacher Danny Leeming.

The following week, 35 students travelled to compete in the sister regional SkillsBC event in Cranbrook where they competed in Carpentry, Cabinet Making, Videography, Photography, Public Speaking and Welding.

Kootenay Lake school district students brought home 8 medals in the categories of Public Speaking, Videography and Photography. Mt. Sentinel took both Gold and Silver in Public Speaking, where students competed on the topic of Women in the Trades. Videography and Photography categories also competed on the topic of trades and were judged on both composition and technical components for their entries.

“We are super proud of our students, for having taken the lessons over the year and watching them apply those skills in a practical way.” Says Academy PM teacher Jacy Schindel, “ It really reaffirms that we are teaching them the right kind of media skills.”

Congratulations go out to all Kootenay Lake School District students who competed in this year’s event. In addition to Mt. Sentinel standings, LVR won Silver in TV/video, Crawford bay won Gold, Silver and Bronze in Carpentry, and a Gold in Cabinet Making, PCSS won Gold medals in Carpentry and Welding.  As a District we had over 50 students participate in the regional competition and are sending 9 students to the provincial competition in Abbotsford in April. Winners of the provincial competition are then invited to continue on to a national event as well. 

The Skills BC Competition has been taking place since 1994 with support from industry, educators, government and labour to promote the rewards of in-demand skilled trade and technology careers. This year’s regional event marked the first time it was hosted in Nelson and proved to be an exciting event and collaboration between regional school districts, Selkirk College and SkillsBC.

District Trades Training Coordinator Brent Firkser shared, “It was a great opportunity to promote to the public the strong digital media programs that are offered at our secondary schools in SD8, the fruitful and vigorous programs that Selkirk offers, and the great local partnerships that are growing.”

The Mt. Sentinel Academy PM (Performance & Media) is a full semester intensive program that runs February through June. Interested students are encouraged to inquire with teacher Danny Leeming, or apply directly at http://bit.ly/academypmapp

For more information:

Danny Leeming – Academy PM (Performance & Media), Mt. Sentinel Secondary School

dleeming@sd8.bc.ca

About The Board of Education of School District No. 8 (Kootenay Lake):

The Board of Education of School District No. 8 provides educational services to numerous diverse communities in the East & West Kootenays, including Crawford Bay, Creston, Kaslo, Meadow Creek, Nelson, Salmo, Slocan, South Slocan, Winlaw, Wynndel and Yahk. Its dedicated team focuses on providing the best possible educational opportunities for over 5,400 students and their families. Its mission is to focus on excellence for all learners in a nurturing environment.